Kevin Dunn (born August 24, 1955) is an American

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

who has appeared in supporting roles in numerous films and television series since the 1980s. Dunn's roles include White House Communications Director Alan Reed in the political comedy '' Dave'', U.S. Army Colonel Hicks in the 1998 version of ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

'', a role he reprised for the animated adaptation of Godzilla, Alan Abernathy's father Stuart in '' Small Soldiers'', Sam Witwicky's father Ron in the ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' film series, Oscar Galvin in the 2010 action thriller ''

Unstoppable Unstoppable may refer to: Film and television * Unstoppable (2004 film), ''Unstoppable'' (2004 film), an American film directed by David Carson * ''Unstoppable: Conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis'', a 2005 America ...

'' and misanthropic

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

Ben Cafferty in ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci. The series follows Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the fictional Vice Pres ...

''. He has also had recurring roles on ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...

'' in 2014 and on the TV series adaptation of '' The Mosquito Coast'' in 2021.

Early life and education

Dunn was born on August 24, 1955, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the son of John Dunn, a musician and poet, and his wife Margaret (née East), a nurse. His sister is actress/comedian

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She first garnered popularity during her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Following her departure from ''SNL'' ...

. He also has a brother, Michael Dunn, a high school history teacher and football coach. He was raised in a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family, and has Irish, English, Scottish, and German ancestry. Dunn graduated from

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

in 1977, and received an honorary doctorate in 2008 from the same school.

Career

Dunn appeared in many live performances in Chicago and its suburbs, including the theater companies Northlight, Remains, Wisdom Bridge and Goodman before his TV and motion picture career. Dunn's work includes ''

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'', a series appearing on ABC from 2007 to 2009, as well as playing Ron Witwicky in

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget high-concept action films with fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of special eff ...

's ''

'' film series. His film appearances include '' Small Soldiers'', '' Stir of Echoes'', ''

'', '' Snake Eyes'', ''

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

'', '' Mad Love'', ''

Ghostbusters II ''GhostbustersII'' is a 1989 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson ...

'', '' Dave'', '' Beethoven's 2nd'', ''

Hot Shots! ''Hot Shots!'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of ''Airplane!'', and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin ...

'', and '' 1492: Conquest of Paradise''. Dunn also played

Murry Wilson Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. Af ...

in a 2000 miniseries, '' The Beach Boys: An American Family''. He played President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...

, Charles Colson, in ''

'' and played President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's National Security Advisor,

Sandy Berger Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger (October 28, 1945 – December 2, 2015) was a Democratic attorney who served as the 18th US National Security Advisor for U.S. President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001 after he had served as the Deputy National Secu ...

, in the ABC miniseries '' The Path to 9/11''. In 2000, he co-starred in '' Bette'', a sitcom starring

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

, in which he played her husband in the show's first 11 episodes. From 2004 to 2006 Dunn had a small recurring role as Terry Hardwick, a baseball coach and mentor to Tyler Hoechlin character Martin Brewer, on the long-running family drama '' 7th Heaven''. Dunn played Joel Horneck, Jerry's overzealous childhood friend, in the ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' episode " Male Unbonding". He has also featured in ''

Live Free or Die "Live Free or Die" is the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted by the state in 1945. It is possibly the best-known of all List of U.S. state and territory mottos, state mottos, partly because it conveys an assertive indepen ...

'' as well as the 2006 film '' Gridiron Gang''. Dunn is an executive producer of the award-winning documentary film '' Kumpanía: Flamenco Los Angeles'' (2011). Dunn played the role of White House Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty in HBO's late 2010s political comedy ''

.''

Personal life

Dunn married Katina Alexander in 1986. They have a son, Jack.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Kevin 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent Illinois Wesleyan University alumni Living people Male actors from Chicago 1955 births